I said don't buy a bout from them. There's no problems buying their rectangular stones, but there are problems with buying bouts from them and there are no benefits. They aren't even cheaper per unit area in some cases.
Yes, and I have an issue with that generalization you made, especially since you omitted some facts that are quite relevant to the initial image you painted.
And no I disagree that it's the buyers fault when a seller sends them the wrong product.
I never meant that it's the buyer's fault when a seller makes a mistake. My position is that humans make mistakes, and the fact that you're giving others advice about a seller based on one single mistake the seller made without even making the seller aware of the mistake is poor form.
If you're suggesting people buy bouts from them I'd love to hear why you think that's a good idea, rather than repeatedly defending them against an imagined assault from someone describing their experience with them.
Actually, I've both bought bouts directly from Ardennes and dealt with a return with them. Both were pleasant experiences. As far as the bout, it was a size 10 bout (Les Latneuses fast side and hybrid) that I probably could not have bought from anywhere else. For the return, the stone had a crack in it. For the sake of full disclosure, it was a stone that Bart selected for me that worked fine when he was using it, but the crack expanded in transit, likely because of the much hotter weather where I was living. (Bart selected hones for about a dozen people on one visit to the mine.) Also in the interest of full disclosure, because the cracked hone would have been worthless as a coticule hone because of the position and angle of the crack, Bart suggested to Maurice that I be allowed to keep the defective hone to attempt to fix, which Maurice let me do while he mailed me a replacement (with me only paying the difference--not shipping--since the replacement was larger). I wasn't able to repair the cracked one in a way that I was 100% certain would hold, but I later PIFed it to someone so that the BBW side could be used. The replacement is a stone I still have and actually used tonight. I've also sent pictures to Ardennes asking for identification, and Maurice was extremely helpful. Anyway, based on my experiences, I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying bouts directly from them. While I don't know if everyone would be able to keep a cracked coticule while the replacement is en route as I did, I think that Ardennes would definitely treat a customer well in the case of a return.